Friday Buffet

It’s heartening to see Congress fight hunger and obesity while supporting local foods (even if it’s sad that it took them this long). All good news, right? Well…

About half of the $4.5 billion cost is financed by a cut in food stamps starting in several years.

In your best Jon Stewart voice: Wha-wha-what?!? So we’re making sure students eat better in school by ensuring that they eat worse at home?

…Mr. Obama tamped down concern by telling Democrats he would work with them to find other ways to pay for the bill, before the cuts in food stamps take effect.

OK, that’s cool…if he’s still in office.

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Composting is a fabulous way to handle the food waste that can’t be avoided, but I’m not sure I’d brag about having this much to compost:

The Whole Foods Store in Alpharetta, Georgia, disposes of over one thousand pounds of cuttings and food waste every day.

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Food waste is on the radar in Canada. Well, at least Canada.com tackled the topic.

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And speaking of Canada, I thought my interview on the CBC’s Q (on Dec. 1) was among the best radio discussions on the topic I’ve experienced thus far. [Here’s the mp3 if that’s better]

December 3, 2010 | Posted in Composting, Friday Buffet, Hunger, International, Legislation, School | Comments closed

New Look

Just a quick post today to say: There’s a new version of WastedFood.com! A friendly designer just completed a long overdue overhaul of the site yesterday.

I’ll be tinkering with a few things here and there, but it’s mostly finished. I’d love your feedback, though. Let me know if you do or don’t like some aspect of the new site.

December 1, 2010 | Posted in General | Comments closed

An App for Avoiding Waste

The iTunes description of the Green Egg Shopper App of starts like this:

Reduce food waste by never missing ‘Use by’ dates.

Now that’s my kind of app.

The Green Egg app–not to be confused with the smokers–helps avoid food waste in a few, neat ways. First, it allows you to make a handy grocery list and cross items off as you shop. That way, you don’t buy too much at the store, natch. (There are other waste-reduction tips on their site, too.)

More impressive, though, is its handling of expiration dates. The app allows you to set the expiration date on items after you buy them. You can see what’s expiring by perusing the “Use Me Now” list and plan/act accordingly. And it’s all very easily customized–you decide how long before “expiration” a food item goes on the list.

The Green Egg also helps track how much you’ve spent on groceries. It doesn’t look like there’s a way to track the cost of your wasted food, though. That’s too bad because it’d provide some real motivation to cut waste! Oh well, I guess you’ll just have to multiply by 0.25 (as in 25%–what most homes waste).

November 29, 2010 | Posted in Supermarket, Technology | Comments closed

Be Thankful, Not Wasteful

I hinted at this on Monday, but I wanted to throw down an expanded call to action for Thanksgiving and after: Be Thankful, Not Wasteful

Thanksgiving celebrates abundance. And we should absolutely enjoy the celebration. At the same time, I don’t think we honor anyone or anything by wasting food.

I’m calling on you to help ensure that your family or friends do their best to eliminate or minimize waste at your Thanksgiving feast. Here are a few ideas:

  • Be sure to distribute the bounty. If you’re the Thanksgiving host, suggest that your guests bring along a few plastic containers of various sizes to fill with leftovers (or have a bunch on hand). There’s no sense centralizing so much food that we’ll struggle to put to use. Being so overt about leftovers may feel a bit odd, but that slight discomfort will pale in comparison to the disappointment from having to toss pounds of once-good food.
  • Celebrate abundance, not excess. Don’t take too much when you serve yourself. You can always go back for seconds! Keep in mind that the average Thanksgiving dinner today comes in, conservatively, at 2,057 calories. And remember, what’s on our plates is seldom saved.
  • Properly save those leftovers. And do it quickly. Not letting foods sit out too long in the bacteria danger zone (40-140 degrees F) will mean they’ll be safe to eat and also last longer.
  • Plan for your leftovers…and eat them! Whether it’s a turkey pot pie, turkey soup or turkey tacos, find some fun ideas that’ll get you excited to use up your T-day remains.

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Share Your Tips and Tricks

Help others reduce waste around Thanksgiving by sharing your insight. We’ve already received a few helpful tips, including Rachel’s idea to make notes on the number of guests, the amount of food eaten and the amount remaining to help prepare the right amount next year.

I’m directing people to the Wasted Food Facebook page where we are compiling a series of tips, successes and–should they occur–failures. These can be videos, photos or descriptions from inside people’s Thanksgiving dinners.  Feel free to post during the prep, the dinner itself, or the “aftermath.” Together, we’ll create a living blueprint for how celebrations can balance abundance with respect for resources.

A few ideas:

• Videos describing what your friends/family are doing this year to reduce food waste. Or, if a video is too much, a photo or description of the steps taken will work just fine.
• A recipe or two for your favorite dishes made from Thanksgiving leftovers.
• Your preferred way to make the perfect leftover turkey sandwiches.
• An “unboxing” video of leftovers from the dinner you attended.

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Spread the Word!

  • I hope you will consider letting your social network know about the Be Thankful, Not Wasteful initiative. Please share this post and ask folks to take action on their own. (And of course to post their results!)
  • Do you blog? Please consider a post or video encouraging your readers to participate. Ask readers to join you in adding their voice to the discussion.
  • Mention the initiative–and this fabulous new book–at your Thanksgiving celebration. I mean, I don’t want you to start any dinner table arguments or anything, but…
  • Solicit tips and tricks from your friends and family who aren’t social media savvy and post them yourself – I know I’ll be asking my Grandma for some ideas.

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Thanksgiving is the one day of the year where we’re all focused on food. Let’s leverage that as a call to action to change our wasteful ways for the rest of the year. I think the day will be more meaningful that way. And remember — even incremental changes can have a massive effect if they’re done by millions of Americans.

November 24, 2010 | Posted in History and Culture | Comments closed

Turkey Week Project

It’s that time of year again–when I start thinking about the glorious Thanksgiving…leftovers! If you’re like me, you might be craving that day-after sandwich as much as the day-of dinner.

Yet, with all of our abundance, though, comes the threat of waste. That’s why I’m hoping you guys will submit some advice here and on the Wasted Food Facebook page about how you plan to avoid waste at Thanksgiving.

I want to leave it wide open to allow for creativity in content and medium. But bonus points for anyone who uploads a photo or video (on Facebook) illustrating strategy or tips.

Whether it’s through words, images or both, let’s get a good dialogue going!

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Also–Finally, some clear insight on the Food Safety Bill! I still can’t believe how hard it is to find news on this piece of legislation.

November 22, 2010 | Posted in Events, History and Culture, Household | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

Sodexo reported that they’ve reduced waste by 30% on eight campuses. How? Identifying their waste by using LeanPath waste tracking systems.

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Half the fish caught in the North Sea are being thrown back…dead?!? Read More »

November 19, 2010 | Posted in College, Composting, Energy, International, Processing Plants | Comments closed

On CBS and Carrots

The Early Show on CBS had a piece on food waste. I’m in it briefly, which was fun to see. The video is now online.

That a network did a segment on avoiding waste is encouraging. It communicates that the issue is gathering steam and awareness is building.

A local camera crew came out to my house to interview me for the segment. In addition to the interview, they shot some “B-roll” of me doing stuff. Typing on my laptop, cutting vegetables and composting. I was a bit disappointed that the composting didn’t make the cut, as we need to get more Americans on board with that practice.

During the filming, I peeled and cut a carrot. When one of the two cameramen asked why I peeled the carrot, I was taken aback. It’s just something I’ve always done (and I suspect most people do).

But, I realized, if we wash carrots, we probably don’t need to peel them, too. Any thoughts? Is this just an ingrained behavior or is there more to it than that?

November 17, 2010 | Posted in General, Household, Personal | Comments closed

Happy Recycling

Happy America Recycles Day!

On this blog, that means a celebration of composting, which recycles food’s nutrients by depositing them back into the soil.

But the mainstream view of recycling doesn’t seem to include composting. What’s your take? Is composting recycling? Should it be considered in that family or is it a different beast?

Whatever your opinion, maybe it’s time we encourage that association. I’m guessing it would really speed the adoption of composting.

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I’m celebrating America Recycles Day in Atlanta, where I’m giving a talk at the CDC in the afternoon and another one at Emory at 7:30 (open to the public). If you’re in that neck of the woods, come  share your opinion on composting/recycling in person!

November 15, 2010 | Posted in Composting | Comments closed

Friday Buffet

New Zealand is really taking a hard look at its food waste. And it’s high time–it makes up a whopping 45 percent of Hawke’s Bay region’s trash.

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Houston high schoolers turning food scraps into gasoline?? Great Scott, Marty! To the DeLorean!

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Here’s a good look at the anaerobic digester at Oakland’s East Bay Municipal Utility District (EBMUD).

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And don’t forget–if you’re in DC, I have a reading tonight at Borders. See you there?

November 12, 2010 | Posted in Anaerobic Digestion, Energy, Friday Buffet, International, School | Comments closed

Gleaned Wisdom on Composting

It’s not often you get to sit down with your local composter. Yet I had that pleasure a few weeks back when I met with Christopher Pepe, who recently launched Glean Organics.

Pepe has taken an interesting approach to commercial composting–a hyper-local one. The company will serve Durham, N.C., by going after the smaller waste generators. His long term goal is to have self-sustaining micro sites near where the waste is created. For example, behind a supermarket. That would eliminate the needless energy use of hauling heavy food waste to a far-off composter. Read More »

November 10, 2010 | Posted in Composting | Comments closed